Tiny Tavern

History of Tiny Tavern

Tiny Tavern is located in a historic 1890's farm house. At one time, surrounded by hundreds of fruit trees, rose bushes, oak and pine trees, the house rose out of the Willamette Valley wheat fields. An old maple still stands behind Tiny Tavern, a reminder of days long gone by...

In 1938, R.B. Johnson opened Tiny Tavern in a small house across the street from its current location. The home had been a tea room during Prohibition, a place where local residents could drop in for socializing or get together for meetings. R.B. garnished the city's third beer license and business picked up. He soon met and married an ambitious young woman named Lucile. By 1945 the two had purchased and renovated the farm house in which you are sitting.

During this time a war had broken out, making beer extremely difficult to find. Lucile and R.B. found idle taps frustrating. One day, in desperation, Lucile called Adolph Schmidt, owner of the Olympia Brewery in the state of Washington, and asked to arrange the delivery of kegs to Tiny Tavern. He invited Lucile to lunch, and a month after the two met, Oly kegs began arriving one per day. While draft beer was hard to find elsewhere, one could have a draw of Oly with R.B. and Lucile Johnson at Tiny Tavern.

Tiny Tavern still serves Olympia on tap, as well as Lucile's famous chili. Enjoy your stay at Tiny Tavern and please come back soon!